Peaceful Valley
Peaceful Valley is a 1951 text story with illustrations by Bill Weaver. Originally published in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #132, the story is notable for featuring Bambi, Thumper, and Flower alongside a larger cast of characters including Chip 'n' Dale, Dumbo, Bongo, Lulubelle, Cinderella, The King, and The Prince. Synopsis The summer heat has almost evaporated the forest's water supply. Hoping to find more water and safety from the heat, Bambi, Thumper, Flower, Bongo, Lulubelle, Dumbo, Chip, and Dale decide to visit a nearby valley filled with water and greens. Will they be welcomed into the valley, or will the King of the land insist they leave? Plot It is summer, and the heat is taking its toil on Bambi and Thumper, who realize that their water supply is running short. Thumper tells Bambi that his "Ma" told him a story about a time that the heat got so bad that a forest fire began. Thumper's mother survived the fire because she had left the forest for cooler areas before the fire even began. This story gives Bambi an idea; he suggests that he and Thumper, like Thumper's mother before them, "go visitin'" cooler climates before the heat gets too bad. Thumper thumps on a hollow log and sends out a signal that calls Flower, Bongo, Lulubelle, Dumbo, Chip, and Dale. The eight friends confer on where to "visit" for the summer, ultimately deciding on a plentiful, green, peaceful valley that Dumbo had recently flown over. Dumbo warns, however, that to get there, the team will have to make it through the dark and scary Black Forest. Thumper suggests that they all tie themselves together while going through the Black Forest so as to not get lost, and Dumbo offers to fly in the sky above the forest to let the others know and see which way they need to be going. The next day, the embark on their journey. Thumper soon becomes scared by the darkness of the Black Forest. He calms himself by singing, an activity the rest of his friends join in on. Eventually, they make it out of the Black Forest and into the peaceful valley. As they fall asleep in the serenity of the valley, the King of the land is alerted that the valley has been "invaded" by animals. Determined that he will not be preyed upon by beasts, the King orders that Bambi and his friends be captured and brought to him. The King meets with the animals and is reluctant to accept them at first, but when they display good manners and politeness to him, he concludes that "they're GOOD" and grants them permission to visit the valley every summer for as long as they live. Continuity *The illustrations imply that the story takes place when Bambi is still a fawn. While this is not entirely impossible, it does make one question why Bambi's mother or the Old Stag didn't accompany their child on his journey. *This story portrays Bambi, Thumper, Flower, Bongo, Lulubelle, Dumbo, Chip, and Dale as all residing in the same forest and being close friends with one another. It also portrays Cinderella as hailing from a nearby kingdom which rules over the titular peaceful valley. *According to this story, Thumper's mother, here referred to as Thumper's "Ma", survived a forest fire once because she left the forest to visit elsewhere before it began. Behind the Scenes Peaceful Valley is a text story with illustrations by Bill Weaver. It was published in September 1951 in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #132. Notes and References Category:Stories Category:Bambi stories Category:Thumper stories Category:Dumbo stories Category:Chip stories Category:Dale stories Category:Flower stories Category:Bongo stories Category:Lulubelle stories Category:The King stories Category:The Prince stories Category:Cinderella stories Category:Bill Weaver stories Category:1951 stories